Take a bite of these crispy, skillet fried, boneless chicken thighs. We’ve pared them with wilted greens that are wrapped up in a thickened cream sauce. No extra carbs to worry about here though, since the traditional roux has been swapped for a coconut flour version. You will be pleasantly surprised by how well this works!
File this recipe under “fast, easy, and mess-free.” You’ll only need one skillet, and this is the perfect easy dinner for those weeknight meals. (If you’re on the hunt for new staples then you also have to give our Nacho Chicken Casserole a spin!) This juicy chicken, rich sauce, and nutritious greens will make for a great but well rounded meal.
The Preparation
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 16 ounces bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- 2 tablespoons coconut flour
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 teaspoon italian seasoning
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 2 ounces mixed greens
The Execution
1. Preheat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the coconut oil to the pan. Season both sides of the chicken thighs with salt and pepper while the oil heats up. Brown the chicken thighs in the skillet.
2. Fry both sides until the chicken is cooked through and crispy. Prepare the sauce while the thighs are cooking.
3. To create the sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan. Once it has stopped sizzling, whisk in the coconut flour to form a thick paste.
4. Whisk in the heavy cream and bring the mixture to a boil. The mixture should thicken after a few minutes. Stir in the Italian seasoning.
5. Remove the cooked chicken thighs from the skillet and set aside. Pour the chicken stock into the skillet to deglaze the pan. Whisk in the cream sauce. Stir the greens in the pan so that they become coated with the sauce.
6. Lay the chicken thighs back on top of the greens, then remove from the heat and serve.
This makes a total of 4 servings of Skillet-Browned Chicken with Creamy Greens. Each serving comes out to be 616 calories, 60.1g fats, 2.9g net carbs, and 17.2g protein.
| NUTRITION | CALORIES | FAT | CARBS | FIBER | NET CARBS | PROTEIN |
| 2 tablespoon coconut oil | 243 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 ounce bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs | 1134 | 101.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 56.7 |
| — salt and pepper | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 tablespoon butter | 203 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 |
| 2 tablespoon coconut flour | 40 | 2.3 | 6.7 | 4.7 | 2 | 2 |
| 1 cup heavy whipping cream | 809 | 85.9 | 6.5 | 0 | 6.5 | 6.8 |
| 1 teaspoon italian seasoning | 3 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.1 |
| 1 cup chicken broth | 15 | 0.5 | 1.1 | 0 | 1.1 | 1.6 |
| 2 ounce mixed greens | 16 | 0.3 | 3 | 1.2 | 1.8 | 1.3 |
| Totals | 2463 | 240.3 | 17.9 | 6.2 | 11.7 | 68.7 |
| Per Serving (/4) | 616 | 60.1 | 4.5 | 1.6 | 2.9 | 17.2 |
Skillet-Browned Chicken with Creamy Greens
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon coconut oil
- 16 ounce bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoon butter melted
- 2 tablespoon coconut flour
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 teaspoon italian seasoning
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 2 ounce mixed greens
Instructions
- Preheat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the coconut oil to the pan. Season both sides of the chicken thighs with salt and pepper while the oil heats up. Brown the chicken thighs in the skillet.
- Fry both sides until the chicken is cooked through and crispy. Prepare the sauce while the thighs are cooking.
- To create the sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan. Once it has stopped sizzling, whisk in the coconut flour to form a thick paste.
- Whisk in the heavy cream and bring the mixture to a boil. The mixture should thicken after a few minutes. Stir in the Italian seasoning.
- Remove the cooked chicken thighs from the skillet and set aside. Pour the chicken stock into the skillet to deglaze the pan. Whisk in the cream sauce. Stir the greens in the pan so that they become coated with the sauce.
- Lay the chicken thighs back on top of the greens, then remove from the heat and serve.
What about the chicken stock? This isn’t mentioned in the directions.
You use it to deglaze the pan. I’m updating the steps so it’s more clear. Sorry!
So how/when does the chicken stock come into play?
Hi David, you use it to deglaze the pan 🙂
What do we do with the chicken stock? I don’t see a use for it in your instructions, but I used it in the sauce, since that seemed the most logical.
You use it to deglaze the pan in step 5. I will update the step so it reads more clearly. Sorry!
I actually totally forgot that I had chicken stock available and went straight into the pan with my cream sauce. It was DELICIOUS even though it separated a little. Not a huge deal to have skipped the step. This has to be one of the best recipes I have made from here. Totally a new favorite!
Made this tonight and it was fantastic. Followed recipe exactly except for adding garlic before I deglazed the pan with the stock. I also added fresh grated nutmeg to the cream sauce. Topped each serving with a little parm too. Used Swiss chard as the green and fell in love. Thanks so much!
The fresh nutmeg sounds divine! Thanks for your tip!
Laura, can you sub almond flour for coconut flour?
I don’t think it will thicken as much…coconut flour is much better at sucking up moisture. You could try it, but if I didn’t have coconut flour on hand I’d more likely thicken the sauce up by adding some cream cheese and using less of the cream.
How long are you supposed to cook the thighs for? It doesn’t say anywhere…
Cook until they reach 165°F, about 15-20 minutes.
Loved it!!! I doubled the recipe, and was worried that I’d made too much sauce, but throwing in more baby spinach fixed that. I also had no chicken stock, so I used the 3/4 c of vegetable, and 1 1/4 c beef stock I had on hand. Definitely a keeper!
Hi Laura, do you think I could use heavy cream with this? Would you recommend using less heavy cream in this case?
Thank you!
You can just sub 1 for 1, I always used to make similar roux based sauces with heavy cream because that’s all they carry at my store. 🙂
I am just getting in to the whole ketodiet, we are not fully immersed yet trying to work through what’s currently in the pantry. This was the very first recipe we tried and it was a huge hit, even with my pickiest eater. I added rubbed sage to the chicken as it was cooking and some fresh minced garlic to the sauce, my dinner table has never been quieter!! Thank you for posting these amazing looking recipes, I can’t wait to try more!
That’s great to hear Alexandra, I bet the rubbed sage was divine!
I made it tonight and doubled the recipe. Loved it but next time I will be using white meat as its just so much better imo. I literally can eat all the spinach and sauce and forget the chicken LOL
I can’t have coconut flour, what would you suggest I substitute with? Would almond flour be okay?
Hey Kim – you can get away with a few different things, but in general you will probably have to adjust the liquids in the recipe as well. Coconut flour is very absorptive compared to almond flour, so swapping out the flours 1:1 usually won’t work. You can see more here: https://www.ruled.me/keto-flour-substitutions/